If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Now that Woody is the coach...

I know Mike... I saw it for years, yet I am not bald (on my head )

...we must reevaluate our talent.

First off there's this:

Speedball officially died in Westchester on Thursday.

Interim Knicks coach Mike Woodson staged his first practice Thursday and reporters got to see implementation of a host of structured, deliberate set plays that was absent in the read-and-ract Mike D’Antoni speedball offense. D’Antoni resigned Wednesday, feeling he didn’t have enough guys buying into the share-the-ball system, specifically Carmelo Anthony.

Amar'e Stoudemire admitted the offensive system is changing dramatically under Woodson in blending more toward the superstars, less toward Linsanity. Woodson admitted afterward point guard Jeremy Lin still is in a “learning stage.’’

"He's going to utilize his leading scorers, myself and Carmelo (Anthony), make sure he takes advantage of every opportunity on the court,'' Stoudemire said after practice. "We've been profound scorers all our careers. He wants to make sure we take advantage of that."
“It’s going to be different for us,’’ Stoudemire added. “Coach Woodson has his offense and offensive schemes. We have to readjust to that. We are all receiving it well. We’re excited about it. We can’t wait to play in the new offense.‘’

We know the offense will be more traditional- ran through Stat & Melo in the post, and on the wing.

Similar to George Carl's (and many others) fundamental approach of producing high percentage shots at volume, we can expect a few anomalies to become present:

1. We will draw fouls at an enormous pace
2. We will play at a slower pace than years past
3. We will play more half-court ball that is heavily relied upon in the playoffs4. We are in YET ANOTHER readjustment/acclimation stage

Then there's the question of Point Guard; that being: WHICH PG FITS OUR SYSTEM BEST?

This is an all important question, debated for years under our previous coach, using his system as a reference point.

Any combination of Lin, BD, JR, Bambi Fields, and Shump can be implored and our new philosophy should dictate this primarily.

Lets admit the truth; Lin is "still learning" and CANNOT be relied upon in the playoffs at this point. This DOES NOT mean he can't or won't flourish, as his clutchness has been on display for the world to see. That type of intangible is invaluable. Conversely, Bambi Fields has the reputation in his young career as being passive and weak when the bright lights are on. I see this as a sign.

To be fair, JR as well as Fields have just as much an opportunity to shine within this new system as anyone. With STAT & Melo being Batman & Robin I believe...

BD should start at PG. I've seen his athletic ability semi-return, his shot improve, and his reacclimation process go smoothly. Unfortunately that was in a different system.

BD however CAN be relied upon come playoff time. He has the resume, the veteran respect, the decision making ablilty, and the passing skills to compliment STAT & Melo. He also has a fair shot at the PG spot sans the Linsanity hype. F*ck pleasing the Asian fan... no offense. W's mean more.

My main concern is can BD knock down the kick-out with consistency? I have no doubt he will do as a PG should; know when to drive, know how to get hot players the ball, know how to control the tempo.

My secondary concern is can BD stop the penetration? I have confiednce he can. His footwork looks good.

That leaves us with the two.

Offense, although sporadic comes with both JR and Shump; JR being the most likely to succeed offensively. Shump remaining a question mark for the bright lights.

The nod goes to Shump in my opinion for a few reasons. He's our best perimeter defender. Although the leadership has changed, the fact that we need to surround STAT & Melo with quality defenders remains. It makes sense to balance the starting unit with defense and versatility. Shump has the job of deprogramming his shoot first mentality to becoming more of facilitator and hustle guy. I'm ordering Bambi Fields to relinquish his notes immediately!

JR provides a better scoring option to compliment the 2nd unit and give Lin and Novak a potent trio (who can't play defense as well, but hey who cares, we need scoring off-the-bench. We don't plan on having to fight back so often ). Jorts can help with that too, although he too needs to be reprogrammed at the finer (expected) arts of a big man.

Starters: BD, SHUMP, MELO, STAT, TC (gives us veteran savvy, needed in the playoffs- if we make it . While reducing the likelihood of errors by Lin and Fields, who are young and need better defense to take the pressure of our bigs)

Bench: LIN, JR, FIELDS, JJ, Jorts (gives us a 2nd unit with scoring, speed, defensive versatility, and a bunch of dudes with something to prove in various capacities.

Your thoughts?

*Jerome Jordan is the honorable mention after Jorts. Novak is a lock as our 2nd unit scorer. White Men Can Jump-shoot.

No concerns for how Lin looked against the HEAT? Compared with what we've seen so far athletically from BD?

Yeah but it was one game.

Lin played awesome against the Lakers/Mavs...

Sucked against the Heat...

Just haven't seen enough of either of them yet. Sure you can probably rely on Baron being more confident and poised come playoff time, yet does he still have the same potential as Lin to explode for 30 pts if our other stars are off?

Lol at you guys thinking Lin is losing his starter job after all the money he has made, before the playoffs.

This is what will likely happen:

Woodson will start Lin but will give Baron heavy minutes

In the playoffs if Lin fails (IF cause I actually think he has the nerves to play ok) Baron could see himself becoming the starter for the rest of the playoffs.

Doesn't matter the system MSG is a bureaucracy based on making money and avoiding bad press. Removing Lin out of the starting lineup for no reason would cause a loss of money and bad press. Also I like to think Woodson will push Lin to defend better. If he played more Defense now he will develop into a better player going forward into the career.

We'll still get swept in the first round by either Miami or Chicago. This is more than the coach.

I hope Melo gets traded before the deadline, you let one head roll - others have to follow.

D'Antoni, Melo, Amar'e are all 3 responsible for our horrendous record since the Melo trade. All 3 should atone for it, not just coach.

u need to backup and smell the coffee....the Knicks put together one of the top frontcourts (Tyson/Stat/Melo) in the NBA....and Dantoni made them "Vulnerable" on both sides of the court....Dantoni NBA career has showed to be clueless on the use of bigmen frontcourts.
He DNP Kurt Thomas first season in Phoenix, the 2nd season Kurt Thomas bigman role helped Phoenix get to the WCF....and in the offseason Dantoni had Steve Kerr trade Kurt Thomas for nothing just to get Kurt off the team.
The following season was Dantoni's last season in Phoenix.

Lin will be the starter BD is gonna be getting lots of those minutes though. I also expect that we will turn to our bench more often. We are deep and woodson has a better understanding of how to utilize that then MDA did.

It's also good for the development of young guys like Iman, Jorts, Lin to have a HC that is holding them accountable. I think this squad is much better suited to woodson then the atlanta teams he had and will succeed in all the areas that those teams failed.

Baron-less =Playoff-less

I suspect Davis will get starting spot fairly soon. Woodson gave them both almost equal playing time vs Portland and I think it would be best to prep Davis for the playoffs (if we do make the playoffs that is). He's a better PG than Lin hands down and has the experience as well as the versatility to adjust to various game scenarios. We will need Davis far more than we will need Lin come playoff time. Lin isn't ready to compete at top level yet.

lol, @ peeps wanting the Knicks to be losers after we got rid of a loser coach. The Irony seems to have no end...

As far as Woodson is concern...I'm happy because now we should continue to see a positive change in our defensive play. IMO, this is the main department we should concentrate on. Do this.... the offense/rebounding and gelling will consistantly get better.

Baron Davis still have the same flaws he had as a young star on the Hornets....
his passes to bigmen are to damn low, plus he has always been a halfcourt
offensive PG with fair defense. Can we use Baron Davis PG talents?Hell yeah! we need at least 20 minutes per game
from Davis veteran experience to backup PG-Lin, especially Davis is great in three guard-offense
with a defensive-Shump or a defensive-TD in the lineup. Should Baron Davis start?No!should Baron Davis start in the 3rd quarter to start the 2nd half?Hell yeah! on alot of our oponents with strong defensive pressure-system.

Jeremy Lin is an energy-creative PG with great IQ who is learning the ropes of NBA B.Ball
in this regular season playingtime....Lin is the Knicks starter & finisher this regular season....
Lin is not supose to be receiving 35 to 40 minutes of playintime per game within 10 different
lineups when he is learning the ropes of NBA B.ball....If Lin is a prospect of learning, shouldnt 80% of his playingtime be in a lineup to GELL with the most minute players on the team?

Tyson Chandler has been a great defensive PF & C in his career in the NBA averaging
28 minutes of playingtime throughout his career....always having a full 10 minutes of great energy in the 4th quarter.

The superstar tandem of Fowards Stat & Melo are not getting any younger,
plus having both on a team with a 7.0 Tyson Chandler, shouldnt their career minutes
of playingtime be reduce to 30 minutes of playingtime? especially when u have decent
backups to use for 18 minutes of their playintime in Jefferies, Novak, Jorts, and Jordan?
plus we have enough decent guards to run a 3-guard offense transition for 6 to 8 minutes
per game?

If our bench-players cant hold down the game for 18 to 20 minutes per game for
our STARTERS -vs- half the teams in the league....then maybe we need new bench-players....
but that was not the Knicks problem in a back to back to back 66 game season, the 8-man rotation of the same players were.
Your Thoughts???